Former Boro star Paul Merson is alleged to have spent a night in the cells after being arrested on suspicion of assaulting his wife.

Reports in a national newspaper claim police arrested the 35-year-old former Middlesbrough and England player after his wife Louise, 33, called for help.

Merson, who now plays for Walsall, put his well-publicised battles against drug, alcohol and gambling addictions behind him when he moved to Boro in 1997.

But in September 1998, he transferred to Aston Villa, saying he feared he would be drawn into the drinking and gambling culture on Teesside if he stayed.

The newspaper alleged Merson was taken to a police station near his home in Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands on Sunday night and was released the following day.

A West Midlands Police spokesman refused to confirm whether it was Merson and would only say: "A man aged 35 from Sutton Coldfield was arrested at 11pm on Sunday, November 9, following an allegation of assault on a female."

No further details were available, he added.

Louise, Merson's second wife and mother of his 22-month-old twin daughters, was reported to have told the Daily Mirror: "There's all sorts of things gone on that I'm sure some people would love to know about but it's nothing to do with anyone else.

"I'm not going to say anything and certainly Paul isn't going to utter a word.

"We have our own problems like anyone else and we're dealing with them.